I work in IT sector. Recently during my project delivery, we had to show a task that is pretty generic, which is done every month. All of us in our team knew the task very well and did it many times before. Our boss one day asked us to provide the documentation of this process. Our question was “Why we need to spend time documenting it?” It was something we do every month. Everyone knows it, and it is very simple. We simply did not see any reason to document it and put the details in paper. Then our boss explained us, you do it every month that is why it is easy for you. But imagine if you go on holiday, will someone else be ready to do it as accurately as you in your absence? What if you do not the time to provide Knowledge Transfer? It is therefore required for you to document the details of how you do your task. He also gave the following example of how documenting and recording facts matter for future.
A German company recently ‘developed’ plates out of leaves after 3 years of research! They immediately went on to patent their ‘creation’ on how to make organic plates out of leaves. To every Indian, this might sound odd. Aren’t leaf plates something that we use in India forever now? Is it not something that it known to every Indian? Yes, it is. It is something that is used in India for perhaps thousands of years. But Indians are always poor (or lazy) to record the details of the process, document it, and publish it worldwide. Perhaps they think it is not worth the time, or the thing they know is not significant enough. Or they simply think that everyone already knows it, so why record the details. On the other hand, westerners are excellent in documenting with precise details of every process they follow. Reading and writing is something the west is far better than Indians.
The Indians however generally have depended on oratory method of transferring knowledge for one to another. What is know as ‘shruti’ which translates to “what is heard”, means in ancient times, Indians would simply oracle pass on the knowledge to the next generation. This was done in “gurukuls” as well as temples. Nothing much was actually written anywhere. That is why you will see very little written evidence from ancient India that has survived. Perhaps just like us, our ancestors thought it was not required.
Another great example of this would be the case of plastic surgery. In March 1793, in Pune, Indian doctors performed a plastic surgery on a bullock cart driver who was injured in the Anglo-Mysore war. A British doctor was also present at the scene who documented the process with precise details. He took that document to England with details and diagrams. And guess what, in 1816, modern day plastic surgery was ‘invented’ and published. In fact, Indians knew plastic surgery process many centuries before that operation took place in Pune. Sushruta who is known in India as the father of plastic surgery wrote about it in his book Sushruta Samhita around 1000 – 800 BC. But he is not credited for work outside of India. What is most unfortunate that many Indians don’t even know who he was, and what was his contribution towards the mankind. The British took credit of Indian invention just because they could document the details and spread it around the world.
It is very unfortunate that there is a section (though small) of Indian who simply are in denial of the greatness of their own ancestors. There are few who actually criticized other Indians that state that plastic surgery was invented in India. In my personal opinion the reason they do that is because their own low self-esteem and perhaps they do not understand their own potential in a way. See if you do not believe in yourself, and your own potential, then chances are you will disbelief your ancestors too. But this is strictly my personal opinion as I fail to understand on why one will argue against their own ancestors’ capability without any solid proof.
Now it is not exactly true that nothing was documented. We had, in fact some of the best universities that was known to ancient world. India had universities like Nalanda and Taxila which had thousands upon thousands of books about history, philosophy, science, literature. Students from around the world used to come to these universities to gain knowledge. Details of these universities have been recorded by the Chinese and European historians. Unfortunately, the Islamic invaders destroyed these universities and burnt all the books that were present there. It is said that the books from Nalanda university were burned for days by Bhaktiyar Khilji’s army. He also put most of the scholars from Nalanda university to death so as to prevent the knowledge to spread. Thus, India lost a treasure of knowledge, apart from what survived through memory of Indians.
Many of the information or knowledge that was passed on orally had always the chance of getting distorted and modified or forgotten. Many such things that survive with Indian as mere ancient practices and customs like applying turmeric to body are simply ridiculed by ‘advanced’ scholars as rudimentary as they are not backed by reasoning and documentation. It is a different matter that the west is realizing the benefits of turmeric now, what was known to Indian for centuries. But again, without proof, or documentation your word cannot be taken as-is! Whether it is Yoga or Pranayam, the west is not only realizing it’s benefits, but also is able to document and spread the knowledge. Also, while the knowledge is passed on orally in India many superstitions have also crept in some way or form in our belief system and customs.
It is therefore important to understand why something is done, what is the reason behind it. Also, it is important to document the fact with as much details as possible, with examples, diagrams, references etc. The documentation then needs to be spread and passed on to the future generations so as to spread the knowledge and preserve it in its original form. It can definitely be enhanced; in that case you will have a newer version of the document. Otherwise, someone else will take the credit of your work. Someone else will benefit from the work done by your ancestors while you lag behind. It is important to understand and appreciate your ancestors while building on their legacy. Always remember, your ancestors are living within you, you have their genes, you are the continuation of their bloodline.
Reference: The Incredible History of India’s Geography, book by Sanjeev Sanyal, 2015
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